Discuss Detroit » Archives - January 2008 » Downtown Hunter House « Previous Next »
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Formerspringgardener
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Username: Formerspringgardener

Post Number: 77
Registered: 07-2006
Posted on Monday, April 21, 2008 - 11:04 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Did anyone else notice the Hunter House in the Hilton has closed it's doors?
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Living_in_the_d
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Username: Living_in_the_d

Post Number: 172
Registered: 01-2008
Posted on Monday, April 21, 2008 - 11:17 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Yeah, See the Non-Detroit section for details, it was a while ago.
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Detroitbill
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Username: Detroitbill

Post Number: 614
Registered: 09-2006
Posted on Monday, April 21, 2008 - 11:27 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

that was predictable, I to this date have no idea why they closed the one across the street in Harmony Park which was more visible.. catered to the masses etc...
it was usually crowded,, was a bad business move
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401don
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Username: 401don

Post Number: 375
Registered: 11-2007
Posted on Monday, April 21, 2008 - 12:28 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

They had some great barbecue chicken on the patio Friday nights last summer. We would eat there before Tiger games and laugh at the dummies lined up for 45 min. at Chelios. Is the bar closed or are they operating as an independent?
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Chitaku
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Username: Chitaku

Post Number: 1989
Registered: 03-2006
Posted on Monday, April 21, 2008 - 12:54 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

damn it my dad and I go there before games!
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Ndavies
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Username: Ndavies

Post Number: 2974
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Monday, April 21, 2008 - 12:59 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

quote:

that was predictable, I to this date have no idea why they closed the one across the street in Harmony Park which was more visible.. catered to the masses etc...



They didn't leave there voluntarily. There was an ongoing dispute with the buildings land lord.
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Digitalvision
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Username: Digitalvision

Post Number: 762
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Monday, April 21, 2008 - 1:14 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I had an enlightening conversation with a couple of business owners, and their opinions of leasing or renting space for a business.

From their perspective (and I see why, having dealt with leasing/renting space myself and seeing plenty of other Hunter House-esque situations) that the only way to go is to own your own building because even if you have an agreement, that doesn't mean if someone wants to change the table on you they can't. It's harder for a bank to change a loan agreement than for a property owner to make up stuff, pull B.S. (and let me tell you, they do) to force someone out.

In short, if you own your own building, you have a bank to deal with (many I know buy property almost outright) and then taxes - known quantities - as well as can do as you please, and that long-term, your costs are way lower if you own property because many times property managers don't do the necessary repairs or maintenance and the businesses inside the structures end up eating the cost and getting nothing for it.

It's one of the reasons why in other cities "business condos" have taken a little bit of a hold. Think condo but for use as a business or commercial space. It's been done in Canada a bit, as well (I first heard about it from a friend who lives in Toronto).
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Detroitbill
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Username: Detroitbill

Post Number: 615
Registered: 09-2006
Posted on Monday, April 21, 2008 - 1:30 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Thanks Ndavies, didnt know of the dispute, never understood the move from a business /volume perspective..
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Rax
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Username: Rax

Post Number: 227
Registered: 11-2007
Posted on Monday, April 21, 2008 - 1:52 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

quote:

From their perspective (and I see why, having dealt with leasing/renting space myself and seeing plenty of other Hunter House-esque situations) that the only way to go is to own your own building



I bet those poor bastards who bought the Oddfellows building wish they had rented it. I'm personally in favor of the rent to own model in Detroit. Is there an Aaron's in town?

(Message edited by rax on April 21, 2008)
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Formerspringgardener
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Username: Formerspringgardener

Post Number: 78
Registered: 07-2006
Posted on Monday, April 21, 2008 - 2:47 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I used to go there once in a while for the Monte Cristo.

I will miss those but my arteries won't!
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Mrsjdaniels
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Username: Mrsjdaniels

Post Number: 812
Registered: 08-2005
Posted on Monday, April 21, 2008 - 4:06 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

damn, they had great wings and sweet potato fries!
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Deandub11
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Username: Deandub11

Post Number: 243
Registered: 05-2006
Posted on Monday, April 21, 2008 - 5:34 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I'm confused, was there more than one hunter house downtown?

and, both of them are now closed?



www.DetroitArmy.com
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401don
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Username: 401don

Post Number: 381
Registered: 11-2007
Posted on Monday, April 21, 2008 - 9:10 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

All of the Hilton Garden Inn hotels list the "Great American Grill" as the on-site restaurant. I would think the Hunter House space will become a "Great American Grill" as required under the franchise agreement unless they find another restaurant operator.
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Formerspringgardener
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Username: Formerspringgardener

Post Number: 79
Registered: 07-2006
Posted on Monday, April 21, 2008 - 9:40 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Deandub11 -
There was only one Hunter House downtown. They originally opened in a location across from the Hilton. They moved to the hotel after it was finished.
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Irish_mafia
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Username: Irish_mafia

Post Number: 1266
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Monday, April 21, 2008 - 10:11 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Well for what its worth, if Hunter House goes back to the basics they had across the street in a new location, I will be there with the kids for sliders and a cold one before a game (Tigers and Red Wings, I will go to the Lions games again when Illitch owns them).
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Living_in_the_d
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Username: Living_in_the_d

Post Number: 177
Registered: 01-2008
Posted on Monday, April 21, 2008 - 10:51 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Yeah, Ditto.
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Detroitbill
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Username: Detroitbill

Post Number: 623
Registered: 09-2006
Posted on Tuesday, April 22, 2008 - 2:05 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I agree, Hunter House had it so right with their original formula in Harmony Park , They went way off the mark when they moved across the street. Wish there was someone we could contact and express our feelings..
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Chris_rohn
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Username: Chris_rohn

Post Number: 424
Registered: 04-2005
Posted on Tuesday, April 22, 2008 - 2:09 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

There's always the original on the by-way formerly known as Hunter Blvd in Birmingham.

Unless that closed and I didn't know it. I rarely make it out that way.
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Zephyrprocess
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Username: Zephyrprocess

Post Number: 618
Registered: 08-2006
Posted on Tuesday, April 22, 2008 - 5:36 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The original is still there, at least as of Sunday...
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Erikd
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Username: Erikd

Post Number: 1013
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Friday, April 25, 2008 - 3:16 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

This thread is filled with incorrect opinions and assumptions based on flawed information.

Mark Papazian opened the downtown Hunter House in early 2000, right around the same time the Tigers opened Comerica Park.

There was an ongoing landlord-tenant dispute, including an eviction and short-term closure in 2001, but the Hunter House quickly re-opened, and stayed there for a couple more years before moving across the street. However, this landlord-tenant dispute is not the reason for Hunter House moving into the new Hilton across the street.

Mark Papazian was a partner in the Harmonie Park Hilton project from the start, and he planned on moving the Hunter House into the hotel all along.

By late summer 2001, this project was publicly announced, the site was fenced off, and some preliminary construction materials were delivered to the site.

On September 11th of that year there was a major terrorist attack on America, causing many sudden changes, including a major slowdown of hotel development around the country.

After 9-11, the Harmonie Park Hilton construction site sat untouched for a year or so, and then the construction resumed. In 2004, the hotel opened, and Hunter House moved in.

The recent closure of the downtown Hunter House has nothing to do with changing locations or landlord/rental issues.

The restaurant was closed as a result of the messy legal/financial battle in the Papazian family.

You can read more about the case here:
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pb cs.dll/article?AID=/20080221/M ETRO/802210388/&imw=Y

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